


Steel Under Silk

by veleda_k



Category: White Collar
Genre: Character Study, Elizabeth is a complex character, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-07-21
Packaged: 2018-02-09 18:40:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1993629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/veleda_k/pseuds/veleda_k
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peter sees deeper into Elizabeth than most. (Some season 4 spoilers.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steel Under Silk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sholio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/gifts).



> Written for Sholio's very old prompt, "Peter/Elizabeth, edge." Which was originally supposed to be a drabble prompt, but I do what I want. I have a lot of feelings about Elizabeth, after all.

Peter's first impression of El was that she was nice. Nice, classy, smart, and way out of his league. Turns out, he was only wrong about that last one. El _was_ nice. She was warm, and supportive, not to mention forgiving, including forgiving of a husband who came home late and forget anniversaries. 

Peter understood people, but it was a cop's understanding, and it came from years of experience. Elizabeth just _got_ people. She saw them for who they were, and she rarely judged. She could make people feel as if they'd been her friends for years.

And so many people stopped looking there. They saw sweet, accommodating Elizabeth and assumed there was nothing beyond the surface. But Peter knew there was more to his wife. More than he wanted admit sometimes.

Because El could be hard. She didn't see they world as Peter did. Sometimes Peter suspected that El was only a law abiding citizen because she'd never had a better offer. (He always tried to chase those thoughts away. Some things even Peter didn't want to examine too closely, and besides, he suspected he wasn't being entirely fair.)

El could be manipulative. Rarely anything dramatic, but she liked people to be where she thought they needed to be, and if that required a gentle (or not so gentle) push, then so be it. There was a reason she took to event planning so well. And she was so kind, after all. After all that warmth and friendliness, could you really turn her down? Not that Elizabeth intentionally made friends to use them, but she did have a knack for knowing who would help her.

El had a ruthless side. Peter had seen her turn it on vendors and even clients. He'd seen that side of her more closely than he ever wanted to when he discovered she had ordered Neal to lie to him after his car accident. And had been a lot to take in, that the woman he loved could lie to him like that. But Peter had known why she did it, because El's love always shown through.

El had an edge, and it was all the sharper for being hidden. And it didn't mean her warmth and caring were any less real. Peter loved El for everything she was. And on the rare occasions when she got that too dangerous smile? Well, god help him, Peter loved her even more.


End file.
